The Aislin Chronicles
Part XIII
A/n: Hi! Thanks for your reviews, and if anyone wants to check out the wall paper ToughCookie47 made me go here: It's pretty. :)
3-6-03
4:44 PM
Today was another half day, it was nice. Dad picked me up during his lunch again and even stayed here a while. We ate grilled cheese; that man makes a mean sandwich. He said he had a meeting today that he couldn't get out of so Sydney would go to my parent-teacher conference instead. Which is fine, I don't really care who goes. Just as long as I don't find out my teachers secretly hate me.
Sydney actually got back a little while ago. She showed me my grade slips the teacher's printed out, and they were good, A's and B's, ignoring math. And my teachers don't secretly hate me, or so Sydney says. I asked her what she thought of Dr. Kazsuk, she met him first, and she thinks he looks somewhat like a cadaver as well. She liked talking with Mr. Johnson, but really, who doesn't? He's cool. She said though that my teachers got confused when she was trying to explain the situation- being Dad's girlfriend. Finally she got fed up of telling that story by the time she got to my last teacher, which just happened to be Mrs. Frierson. Needless to say, she now thinks Sydney was a teen mother. Oh well.
I'm gonna go hang with Sydney. Because she's back (!) and Dad's not coming home until late.
3-7-03
3:35 PM
So, I completely forgot about our fieldtrip to the zoo today, and I ended up without a lunch. Jess and Kathleen shared a bit of theirs though. It was really… Boring. Sadly, the most exciting part was when the one bald eagle almost pooped on the other eagle's head. Hm. That's life, I guess. I suppose Jack being a chaperone would have spiced things up. I can just see him surrounded by crowds of immature little kids. Oooh look at him cringe. Hehe. Ian Schmidt helped make it fun. He cracks me up, he's just hilarious. And. Cute.
Anyway, I have to get started on this animal habitat project. I have to make like a diorama for an animal, and I think I want to do a manatee. They're just so gosh darn cute. Well, more like so ugly they're cute. But still, cute. Oh, I have to write a short paper about them too with the diorama. Dr. Kazsuk (ka-sucks!) made a list of stuff we have to include, and I don't see how they're going to be full paragraphs. But whatever.
We finished The Giver today in English. Oh man, what an ending. I like how there's so many ways of interpreting it. Too bad I haven't decided how I want to interpret it yet. I'll figure it out sometime.
I had an interesting conversation with Dad last night after he got home. I was like, "Can I dye my hair green for St. Patrick's Day?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because… I said so."
I don't really want to dye my hair, I just wanted to know if he'd say yes. Fun little experiment of mine. I'm so excited for St. Patrick's Day. But we have school? What's up with that? Crazy.
3-10-03
5:04 PM
I think, just quite possibly, I may have a crush on Ian Schmidt. But in a kinda sorta not really way. I told Jess. She just looked at me. "Really? Ian?" she asked. Then she shrugged. "Whatever flips your skirt."
5:06 PM
I'm not exactly sure what that means. But okay. Just a thought.
3-16-03
11:32 AM
I can't believe America. All the Irish that emigrated here and I get a measly parade? During school? St. Patrick's Day here is nothing but a day to avoid getting pinched, for stores to have another sale, and for people to drink green beer. I am so disappointed.
But I have been so retarded lately. I got all sad that I wouldn't really get to celebrate, then Dad goes and asks me something about my birthday. I forgot my birthday was coming? Usually St. P's Day is like my reminder- it's almost here! Silly me. How could I have forgotten? There's only like
11:36 AM
nine days until I'm thirteen years old (I had to count…). Hey, I guess that will make me a teenager. Whatever that means. Hm. Thirteen? I can't possibly be that old. Crazy.
What should I do for my birthday? I think I just want to hang with Jess, Kathleen, Dee, Fini, Danny, and Adam. It'll be fun. I'll ask Dad.
11:45 AM
Thirteen? Really? Where has the time gone?
3-17-03
3:42 PM
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! I'm wearing green, so you can't pinch me, journal. But I can pinch you- pinchy pinchy. Danny forgot, so we reminded him all day long. With pinches. It was funny. Well I have like a year's worth of homework to cram into a few hours. Bye.
3-21-03
5:30 PM
Wow, I haven't written in here since Monday. I had a busy week though. Lots of homework lately. Plus my project for science… Takes up most of my time. Anyway, my birthday is in four days! On Tuesday! It's so close. Tonight I'm having a party. Jess, Kathleen, Adam, Dee, Fini, and Danny are all coming over in like a half hour and Dad's going to order pizza for us and we're going to watch movies and hang out and stuff. Then the guys are going home at ten and the girls are spending the night. I'm excited! This is going to be so much fun.
3-21-03 or 3-22-03 Midnight-ishAh! Tonight was so much fun! We ate pizza and cake until we thought we'd explode then we all squished onto the couch and watched Harry Potter, Jess's choice. And forget Ian Schmidt- I'm all about Seamus Finnigan now. I don't even know the actor's name. But the way he says, "Dad's a Muggle, Mam's a witch, bit of a nasty shock for him when he found out" just makes me squeal. Sweet Irish accent.
Wait. No. Don't forget Ian Schmidt.
Anyway, Syd and Dad disappeared for awhile during the movie. Hmm. Hehehe. Then I got presents! Tons of random stuff, naturally, due to the random nature of my friends. But good stuff. Kathleen got me like a kazillion pens of all sorts of pretty colors to write in my journal. I love them. And Jess made me this homemade card which was wicked awesome. It had pages, yes, pages. And Danny would have played Happy Birthday on his violin, but he didn't have it, so he sang it in a high pitched voice instead, which I think was more entertaining than a violin.
Somewhere whilst we were eating I asked them how Americans pronounce stuff. "Is coupon like Q-pon or coo-pon?" Why there can't be a universal way to pronounce stuff, I just don't know.
I got divided answers. "What do you say in Ireland?" Kathleen asked.
"We just call them advertisements."
"Haha, listen to her, ad-vir-tiz-ments," Jess made fun of me.
"God, shut-up!" I mocked in an impeccable American accent, might I say. "Oh, what about flipped off or flicked off?"
Again, divided answers. Seriously, universal pronunciation everyone. Well, later we started watching The Ring, but the guys had to leave in the middle of it. And somehow all us girls ended up on the floor huddled together in the dark because Kathleen had to turn the lights out. For effect, apparently. It wasn't that scary, the worst part was when they showed their faces after they died. Creepy.
When the movie was over we all came in my room and started talking. Jess managed to add something about my "crush" like thing on Ian, so now they all know. And then we got really sidetracked on random topics like broken bones and such. It reminded me of when I broke my wrist when I was eight. I thought it would be cool to jump out of this tree branch, but um. Bad idea.
Then Fini was like, "I've only broken my fingers from softball, no big deal."
"Oh, don't be so modest Fini," Dee smirked.
"… What?" Dee started laughing hysterically. "Shut it! Shut-up! I've only broken my nose twice, once because that wallc ame out of nowhere, and two, because my bleep of a sister threw a bottle at my schnoze. Dee Dee, what have you broken? Huh? HUH?"
"I try to stay away form flying objects and appearing walls!"
"But Dee Dee, what about that ticket booth?"
"Shut-up! You lead me into it! You said I could shut my eyes and you would lead me to the car!"
"And you trusted her?" Kathleen asked.
Okay, so I didn't remember that word for word. I'm out in the living room now and I'm listening to the pen. Fini zonked out a while ago, shortly followed by Kathleen, and then Jess. I think Dee might actually be awake, but I don't care. I'm too hyper right now to sleep. I might get Dee to come watch another movie with me. Maybe like Moulin Rouge since the guys are gone. Yeah. That sounds good. MY BIRTHDAY! WEEE!
3:27 PM
That was about the best birthday party I've ever had! It was so much fun, ahhh! I love my friends so much. Well, when I got Dee to watch Moulin Rouge, Jess was actually awake and wanted to watch too, and us whispering woke Kathleen up who also wanted to watch, then Dee stepped on Fini and woke her up and then we all went out to the living room to watch. I found out the first time Fini saw Moulin Rouge she cried, which is hilarious because she never cries. And she loves pain. Like, she pushes her own bruises.
Yeah, anyway, how can one watch Moulin Rouge without joining in song? We all had to sing along to it, and we weren't loud enough to wake the neighbors or anything, but we most certainly had to wake up Syd and Dad (if they weren't already asleep at that point). But they didn't come yell at us or anything. And, oh, how Ewan McGregor singing to me makes me so happy.
3:33 PM
Sorry, took a moment to reflect on him. So after the movie, we actually were kind of tired so we went back to my room and slept. Then Dad woke us up, yes, he WOKE us up at like ten. It was way to early. And he sang some weird song to us. Kathleen told me her Dad did that too. I ended up throwing my pillow at Dad, but then he said if I didn't want pancakes he could have just told me. And that comment changed our minds, because, PANCAKES! Who doesn't love pancakes? According to Jess, "Some things are more important than punctuality, but nothing is more important than pancakes."
Breakfast was yummy, mmmm. Dad and Syd made like a feast for us, it was amazing. And this time Jess didn't ask them about when they were getting married, thank God. After breakfast everyone went home except Kathleen, because her parents were at some thing and she was staying longer. Syd and Dad had to go into work even though they were late, so 'Leen and I hung out for a few more hours until her dad came and got her. She told him how Dad woke us up in song this morning, which inspired him to sing his own. They were funny, but Kathleen was really embarrassed. Whatever. I like her dad, he's cool.
And now here I am, home alone, wanting it to be my real birthday. It's so close! Oh man, I still have to finish my diorama. It's really nifty. We have to make it like a zoo exhibit. So I have this little box, and there's a big "tank" in the middle with observing places for people around the bottom and on top. I used blue saran wrap for water, it looks cool. I don't know how I'm making a manatee… I think I'll print off a picture of some and stick them in the tank, make it look like they're swimming. Okay, I'm going to finish.
3-24-03
4:02 PM
School today was boring. All week in science we're presenting out diorama things, and hearing people blabber on about the gestation period of elephants is not my idea of fun. All the teachers are trying to finish up everything before spring break. The thought of my birthday tomorrow is what got me through the day. I remember my third birthday when Father got me a tricycle. It was red, and it had rainbow colored streamers off the handlebars, and it was my favorite birthday present ever. In fact I think it's still in the garage in the house in Ireland. Hm, I think I have pictures of it somewhere too.
11:45 PM
I can't sleep. I'm not tired at all. I started looking through the pictures, of home, and of Father, and now it's all I can think about. I've just now realized… I've never had a birthday without Father. This is my first, and… I haven't been thinking about him as much lately and I'm a horrible person. I mean this is my father! How can I just forget him at my birthday? I'm going to be thirteen, that's a big one, and Father won't be here with me.
12:13 AM
I'd had a really bad day at school. I don't even remember what was wrong, I just remember feeling the need to talk to him. It was a Friday, so I knew I could go visit him. His boss always let me come on Fridays. I was so drained, and tired, and I just wanted to hear his voice, to tell me everything was okay, that things at school would get better.
12:26 AM
I went in and I headed to the elevator. I pushed the button for it to come and…
12:31 AM
The doors opened, and there he was. One the floor. Dead.
12:47 AM
I screamed. I couldn't believe it was Father, I didn't believe it at first. I feel to the floor and brushed the blood from his forehead, he was shot in the chest, but his blood was everywhere. Just… Everywhere.
1:05 AM
It wasn't him, I kept telling myself. It wasn't him it wasn't him it wasn't him. But it was. And I knew it. And I started crying. I lay down next to him, hugging him to me, thinking if I held him hard enough he'd come back. "Father?" I'd ask, waiting to hear his response. His blood spilled onto me all over my dress, in my hair, all over my hands, the floor, I saw in red.
1:24 AM
When the doors opened, there was a woman standing there. I had never seen her before. She had brown hair, and she was tall and thin. And she stared at us with such a fear and shock. She was Sydney.
1:33 AM
She pushed herself into the corner, as far away from us as she could. The elevator pulled us up, and somehow, I spoke. "Why would someone do this to him? Why would someone kill my father?" Sydney's lips quivered, and I stared at her, tears streaming down my face. I had never wanted anything so badly in my whole life, I had wanted her to tell me an answer. Anything. I was desperate. Literally desperate. She didn't move, she didn't try to revive him in the off chance he was still alive, she simply quivered.
1:49 AM
The doors opened again, and slowly a man came into the elevator. They started speaking in rapid Italian, at least I think it was Italian. I just stared at Father again, my cries growing louder. His eyes were wide open, set straight ahead of him. I shook his head, they had to move. He had to see me. He had to know I was there, that I needed him. But they didn't move.
His hair was red from a pool of blood. His chest was sopping wet with it. The hole just kept gushing, it wouldn't stop. And for some reason, I didn't care. I just wanted his eyes, that was it, his twinkling, happy eyes. And I couldn't see the twinkle.
2:04 AM
Father's body drifted farther away from me. I cried out for him, I screamed for him. I couldn't leave him, he hadn't seen me yet. His eyes haunted me. The way they were frozen, discolored, dull.
2:15 AM
The doors to the elevators closed. And that was the last time I saw him. Suddenly, a split second before they were shut, I locked onto his gaze. I saw him, I saw his eyes, but they didn't see me.
And I got scared. For the first time, I was scared. What would happen to me? Where would I go? How could I possibly live without him? He was truly… Gone. Forever.
2:29 AM
That's when I realized I was being carried, by that man from the elevator, by Vaughn. I think he was talking to me, soothing me. Maybe it worked, I know I stopped crying. I just remember feeling numb. It was a weird state, to feel nothing, to think nothing, see nothing, hear nothing.
I have one memory of going from Ireland to Los Angeles. It might have been a dream, it most certainly felt like one, but I looked out this small rounded window like one on a plane, and I saw green Ireland, pulling away from me like I was pulled away from Father. And this part is so distinct, I had one thought, an actual thought, a process in my brain despite my numbness, that it wouldn't be the last time I saw Ireland, even though I'd never see Father again. And during that one lapse, I felt one thing. That Vaughn was holding me. And that's all I remember.
2:56 AM
I'm in the living room right now, wrapped up in my quilt, the one Mum made me before I was born. I had to get out of my room for some reason, I just kept seeing Father's eyes everywhere. It doesn't help, being here. I still see them.
3:05 AM
What I remember isn't much. Once in LA, I don't know where I was taken, I guess the someplace CIA. Vaughn left, I remember that, and I was given new clothes and told to take a shower. I did as told, not entirely sure why, not entirely sure where I was. I remember watching the blood wash off me, I almost threw up. You'd think I was bathing in blood. The water on the floor was completely red. I had to scrub to hard to get it out of my hair, off my skin. I thought if I scrubbed hard enough I could wash Father's dead image out of my mind. But I couldn't.
3:18 AM
Eventually I was clean, and I'd cry occasionally, and I was brought to this white room where I sat at a table. People would try to talk to me, but I didn't hear them. I didn't say anything to them. Then Vaughn came back, and Sydney. I remembered them right away, I don't know why. When all those memories are so dim they stuck out so much. Vaughn told me I was at the CIA, in Los Angeles. He tried asking me questions, but I didn't know if I should answer. I heard his voice, I heard him asking me. Why could I hear then?
He had to go talk to someone, and I felt Sydney staring at me. I looked back at her and… I can't explain it, I felt, like, safe. Like she understood. She asked me what my name was. I didn't answer. Vaughn came back, and I bit my lip. I should have answered his questions, I thought. For some reason, I felt like I should have told him, like things would be okay if I said something. So as they walked away I told them my name. Aislin.
3:25 AM
Well, it's officially my birthday. Aislin Finna Conor, now Aislin Conor Vaughn, born 3:25 AM on 3-25-91. Father always said that was lucky, being born on the same time as the date. But Father's not here now. I am thirteen, and he will never be here.
I think I here someone coming.
A/n: And finally, Aislin's side of the story. I hope you enjoyed it! Please review. And I'll try to update soon!